WHAT WE DISLIKED:

Introduction

Over the last couple of years or so we’ve looked at many Solid State Drives that feature various technologies in the attempt to boost speed and performance. Some have been successful, some have not. But there’s no mistaking the fact that SSDs are becoming increasingly popular with each passing month. Big improvements in controller technology and performance increases have also been accompanied by dropping prices, making these drives far more affordable to consumers who want to experience life in the fast lane on their computer.

About a year and a half ago, OCZ bought Indilinx planning to develop their own proprietary controller, and we’ve been waiting to see the results. First came the “Indilinx-Infused” Everest 1 controller on the OCZ Octane, and it was impressive but not entirely reality-altering. Maybe we’re curmedgeons but we wanted more. Then came the Everest 2 controller which we saw in the Vertex 4. And now OCZ has the Vector, featuring the newest Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller.

Needless to say, we’re excited. OCZ has an impressive history of innovation in the SSD market, leading the way in many respects, and whether it’s fair or not, they’re the target and we hold OCZ to the highest standard. And so OCZ is responding the consumer/enthusiast’s growing demand for a fast and reliable drive that performs as well with incompressible data as it does with compressible data. OCZ is also responding to the demand for a drive that retains its performance in a peak condition over time as well as greatly extending the life span of the NAND with their new Proprietary Indilinx Ndurance 2.0 Technology.

The OCZ Vector is the result, promising enthusiast-classed performance to battle the SandForce drives. But how does the performance of the Vector measure up? Is it worth the investment? Let’s dive in and find out.